Photo by Roxie Gonzalez
The Oklahoma Christian University men’s soccer team took to the road for the first time this season hoping to find success against West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico, but came up short in both games.
The Eagles’ first match up came against West Texas A&M on Thursday. The Eagles found themselves in a 2-0 deficit until the 89th minute when midfielder Seth Brown found the back of the net on an assist from Troy Tippeconnic. The rally came too late, however, and the Eagles fell to the Buffaloes 2-1.
Oklahoma Christian could never wrestle control of the game away from West Texas A&M. The Buffaloes’ Vitor Cardoso scored in the 32nd minute to put West Texas A&M ahead 1-0, and their second goal in the 49th minute when Christopher Hutton assisted Michael Williams. The Buffaloes outshot the Eagles 21-6, including a 13-1 edge in the first half.
Eagles midfielder, Taylor Vanderford, believed the long road trip had mental and physical effects on the players.
“This weekend was a tough one for the guys,” Vanderford said. “It was a long travel to Texas and New Mexico and we were not mentally or physically focused for the games. It came in the second half where we finally realized what we were capable of, but it was too late. When you’re down by two or three goals going into the second half it takes a lot of energy to get back up.”
Eagle goalkeeper Evan Helker had 10 saves, while the Buffaloes’ goalkeeper had two stops.
The Eagles faced Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 27. Oklahoma Christian went down 3-0 in the first half and, like the previous game, could not sustain a rally and fell to the Greyhounds 3-1.
Eastern New Mexico scored its first goal in the 17th minute when an 18-yard shot by Gil Munoz deflected off an Eagle defender. The Greyhounds’ next goal came in the 32nd minute, when Ryan McManus headed a pass from Isaak Arrieta to make the score 2-0. In the 39th minute Eastern New Mexico made it 3-0 when a free kick by Braulio Martinez found the head of Abayneh Crosby.
The Eagles scored in the 52nd minute when Vanderford passed to Fraol Legesse, who scored his first career goal to make the score 3-1. Neither team would score again, and the Eagles would come up winless for the fourth game in a row. Vanderford said the team needs more drive to get over the slump.
“We just need to come to games and practices with a drive to work,” Vanderford said. “It’s what it all comes down to. If you practice poorly and don’t work hard it shows in games. The team just needs to get over these past weeks and focus on one game at a time.”
Like the previous game against West Texas A&M, the Greyhounds substantially outshot the Eagles with a 22-8 gap. The Greyhounds’ goalkeeper James Gutierrez had five saves while Helker had six.
“Both teams put pressure from the start and we did not equally match their work rates,” Vanderford said. “When we did match their work rates shots came more frequently for us than it did for the other team.”
Two yellow cards were handed out in the game Saturday. The first to Oklahoma Christian defender and team captain Matt McLain in the 39th minute. The second yellow card went to Eastern New Mexico’s Jehmaine Brooks in the 47th minute.
Oklahoma Christian will have a nine day rest as they prepare for their first Heartland Conference game at home against St. Edward’s in Texas on Oct. 6. St. Edward’s tied for second in conference play last year.
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